On December 17th, 2018 the Youth Eco Solutions (YES!) Program announced the 2018-19 winners of the McKnight Foundation Project Seed Funding. Funding was awarded to teams implementing projects that involve creating solutions to today’s environmental challenges through hands on projects that impact their school and/or communities. Through a competitive process, 5 teams received funding to complete their projects.
The project funding is a result of a larger grant received by the YES! Program from The McKnight Foundation to bring climate literacy to YES! students across Minnesota. All teams that received funding have a clear vision on how their project relates to climate change.
A complete list of the winning teams and a description of their projects is provided below:
- Carlton YES! team plans to initiate a pilot program to retrofit their school’s florescent bulbs with LED bulbs and install motion sensing lights in bathrooms. The team hopes through this project, the school will want to do more projects related to energy savings.
- Glencoe-Silver Lake YES! team will be participating in the MTEEA Supermileage Challenge, the students will be working together to create a plan for the vehicle, ordering parts that fit their budget, and building the vehicle. Once their vehicle is done, they will travel to Brainerd International Raceway in May, 2019 where they will compete in the 31st annual Supermileage Challenge against other students from around the state. The students will learn about maximizing gas engine efficiency and reducing emissions.
- New London-Spicer High School YES! team plans to replace existing outdoor lighting at their high school with LED lighting. The team also plans to raise awareness of the benefits of LED lighting such as cost savings and energy consumption reduction.
- New Prague YES! team will be creating three edible landscape that produce food with an extended growing season. The students will learn about edible Minnesota plants, horticulture/landscaping, soil health and its impact on climate change.
- Yellow Medicine East YES! team plans to install a hydration station near their gymnasium to reduce the need for single-use plastic bottles, save space in landfills, and reduce the carbon footprint of the school.
More to come: teams will be blogging and sharing photos on their projects!
